Jung Ah narrowed her eyes. Was that a challenge? If so she would take it. Anything to give this girl a dose of her own medicine. “A skating competition? Is that what you want? Fine. But don’t you be crying when I kick your .” She glared at Ga In, who snorted.

“We’ll see who will be crying in the end. Why don’t we have it at the skate competitions during the school festival? Two months from now, at Winter Festival, and the judges will decide who’s better... though it’s pretty clear right now.”

Jung Ah rolled her eyes. “Alright then. It’s a done deal.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Myungsoo watched the girl in front of him hold back her anger. He could tell that she was about to explode any moment now, though he wouldn’t blame her. The long-haired girl was kind of annoying. And another thing- she skated too, apparently. She didn’t seem like the type to ice skate- but neither did he, in a way. It was interesting- they might have more in common than he had initially thought.

Tension filled the air as the two girls stood firmly planted in their spots, glaring at each other furiously. Jung Ah narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth in annoyance and ceasing to break eye contact. The girls’ staring contest was cut short, however, as the bell rang abruptly, signalling the end of lunch break.

Jung Ah broke eye contact. “Gotta go. I have better things to do than to waste my time talking to the likes of you.” Jung Ah spat, turning away.

Ga In smirked. “Well, I’ll be seeing you on the rink in two months. Better be ready, honey. You can’t lose, can you? It would be a disgrace to your excuse of a family- oh, but wait. They’re not here to see it anyways. Aww, how sad. Well, nevermind then. See you.” She gave a little giggle and sauntered away, long hair swaying behind her.

Jung Ah stood frozen. That’s right. She had no family- not anymore. Why did that stupid girl have to bring it up? Fire burned in her stomach as her eyes narrowed, fury radiating from her figure. How dare she. “That bitc-” she snarled, ready to leap from her seat and tackle the girl outright- but she was cut off as someone pulled her back. She looked down to see a hand on her arm, holding her firmly. She looked up to see Myungsoo’s eyes trained on her intently, calmly, telling her to calm down and let it go.

“Let go! What’s wrong with you?” she shot at him, attempting to shake him off.

“Calm down. She’s not worth it.” he hissed harshly, his eyes pleading her to listen.

She paused for a moment, taken aback by the amount of understanding she saw in his eyes. She stared at him, biting her lip, and he stared back, urging her to understand. For a moment, she stood frozen to her spot.

Something inside Myungsoo softened when he saw pain flick across her features. She was broken, too. Broken like him, on the inside- and though she hid it exceptionally well behind her mask of nonchalance and confidence, all embellished with a smile, it was there, killing her on the inside everyday. There was no escaping. It was when he caught that glimpse of raw emotion that he understood.

Finally broken of her trance, tears filled Jung Ah’s eyes as she successfully wrenched Myungsoo’s arm off, turning to dash out of the room.

“What-” Sunggyu started, concern etched across his face. He was cut off by a soft but firm answer from Min Hee.

“Don’t ask. It’s painful for her to have her family brought up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go after her.” She ran off in search of her friend.

The other boys nodded slowly, in understanding, as their eyes flicked over to Myungsoo carefully. Woohyun glanced at his friend worriedly, judging his features.

“You alright?” he whispered. He was answered with a slight nod and a sigh.

“Thanks for saving her, Myungsoo,” Joo Young said quietly. “Who knows what she could have done to Ga In in her state. Though I agree that the girl deserves it, it wouldn’t have been good for Jung Ah.”

Myungsoo sighed again, pushing himself up off the chair and walking off out of the cafeteria without a word.

“Well, we should get going too. Let us know if you need anything, okay?” Hoya broke the silence awkwardly, smiling carefully. Joo Young nodded, running off as well as the boys rose to head to class.

. . .

Jung Ah wiped away her last tears, sniffling as she slid over the surface of the rink. She closed her eyes and flung herself into a frenzy of twirls and twists, flying over the ice with the last of the strength she had left, letting the graceful motion capture her and take away her pain.

It hurt. Not like the first few months after she had lost her family, when the pain was still raw and gut wrenching; to say the loss had dulled was not exactly true, though. She had simply chosen to ignore it- no, forced herself to ignore it, putting on a smile and pretending that it was okay, that she was fine, that everything was going to be normal, or she was going to force it to.

It was there every day though, and the fact remained that her family was gone and that she was alone, very much alone, in this world. It made her want to cry, to curl up into a ball in bed alone and never come out again. She was broken, and when she was feeling especially lonely in her quiet apartment or on the rare occasion that she was reminded of her past, her facade broke.

Jung Ah opened her eyes, so preoccupied with her thoughts that she nearly skated into a person standing beside her. She started, extremely surprised to find someone at the usually abandoned rink, but paused as she recognized his profile in the dark.

“It’s... you,” she said quietly.

He simply stared at her silently, his eyes twinkling white in the night, and remained quiet. Instead, he started to skate around her, hands behind his back, faster and faster. A smile tugged at the edge of her lips, turning her head to watch him as he continued to speed up, glancing at her and beckoning her to join him. When she hesitated, he skated to her.

“Come on. Let it go, whatever you’re holding on to,” he whispered in a low voice.

Jung Ah paused, weighing his words. She smiled and decidedly started to follow him, pushing off the ice and gliding after him across the wide rink. The pair skated around the perimeter of the ice, pushing foot after foot backwards effortlessly, side by side.

Myungsoo smiled a little bit to himself, enjoying the feel of the cool winter air brushing past his face as he raced over the surface of the ice. Initially, he had come to the rink in mild anger, half annoyed that he had been pulled into the personal affairs of that Jung Ah and half pained by the emotions that had resurfaced, hurting more than ever, when he was reminded of his parents. When he had hit the fresh ice with a burst of speed, he let the emotions that were cooped up inside him release, pouring it into his movements. He had skated as hard as he could, fast as he could, letting the anger and the hurt drain away until he was calm again, panting from the exertion.

As he had paused for a breath, he happened to spot the same girl from the last night skate into the middle of the ice. Partially obscured by the dark at the edge of the rink, he had watched her curiously, furrowing his eyebrows as she wiped what appeared to be tears from her eyes and threw herself into a frenzy of spins and jumps. She had her eyes closed, and so he started to approach her. It seemed that they had much in common.

As his mind wandered, the girl started to pull ahead of him with with a burst of speed, and turned her head to challenge him when he looked up, pulled back into the present. He raised his eyebrows, racing to catch up with her, embracing the challenge with vigor. He grinned at her as he glided past, but she quickly sped up to match his pace, tilting her head defiantly and smiling as well. She was fast, he had to admit, but he could go oh so much faster.

The two continued with their game of push and pull, racing around the edge, skate blades slicing into the rink as they tore across the ice. Myungsoo laughed in exhilaration, glancing up at the dark sky and letting his pain wash away in the moonlight, the cold wind rushing past his face as they skated together well into the night.

                                                                                      . . .

“Ugh. I think that’s the last of them,” Joo Young let out a sigh of relief as she placed the final suitcase onto the floor of her new room. She looked around, satisfied.

“Why do you have so much stuff, Joo Young? Aish. So heavy,” Jung Ah mock-scolded her friend as they padded to the kitchen for something to drink. Joo Young grinned happily.

“I have lots of clothes, obviously. Heehee. Ah, well, at least you have room in your apartment. Thanks so much, by the way, I had no idea where I was going to stay. Our lovely Jung Ah is giving up her space just for me,” Joo Young said, plopping herself into a chair.

Jung Ah glanced up as she poured water into the kettle to boil. “Honestly, it’s no problem. We get to spend more time together! I haven’t seen you in forever, we have so much to talk about. And it’s nice to have someone around for a change, anyways. The place gets really empty, it’s lonely,” she said the last part with a slight sigh.

The room lapsed into a silence as her best friend nodded in silent understanding.

“So how are you going to take on Ga In’s challenge? Do you even know what you’re going to do?” Joo Young asked her friend, glancing up and thanking her as she set a steaming mug in on the table.

“I have no freaking idea,” Jung Ah replied, taking a sip of her hot cocoa, “but I’ll think of something. It’s not like it’s going to be anything out of my capabilities, anyways,and I definitely have to beat her. No, I will beat her. Did you hear what she said about me?” Jung Ah gritted her teeth at the memory of it. “I’m going to make her pay for those words.”

As if on cue, Jung Ah’s phone chimed, signalling a text. She opened the message, wondering who would be trying to contact her this late at night. It was Ga In.

“What the heck? How did Ga In even get my number? Does she just really like to piss me off, what is she even trying to do- oh crap,” Jung Ah’s eyes widened as she read the text. Joo Young peeked over the phone, curious to see what the cause was for her friend’s alarm. Her eyes widened too as she read the text aloud.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention. The competition is going to be pair skating. If you don’t have a partner, you don’t get to compete- so you better find someone.”